There are game-changers in popular culture. Like when "The Matrix" altered the course of science fiction films, or Dr. Dre featured Snoop Doggy Dogg for the first time, or "The Sopranos" aired on HBO.
Or on Monday, when the Philadelphia Flyers unleashed "Gritty" on an unsuspecting populace.
Gritty is the Flyers' new mascot, and their first since the 1970s. It's an orange mess of googly eyes and a hoopla-hoop belly. It was an instant sensation, whether you treated it as "nightmare fuel" or were strangely captivated by it. Rare is the hockey thing that bursts out of the sport's bubble, but Gritty was a conversation starter for non-hockey people ranging from ESPN baseball writer Keith Law to comedy's Paul F.